This is where I will be posting any bits of Diamond Resorts news and any updates to the Diamond Resorts Members website www.dri-members.co.uk I will also try to include any good sites or intersting articles I find. Tony's Blog Home Page

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Internationally recognized timeshare veteran joins leading hospitality company Las Vegas - November 27 2007 - Diamond Resorts International® (DRI) has announced the recent appointment of vacation ownership veteran Simon Crawford-Welch, Ph.D., RRP, to the position of president and chief operating officer responsible for global operations.

Crawford-Welch has held several executive positions in international sales, marketing and operations in all aspects of the leisure industry and has over 20 years of experience in the vacation ownership industry. He holds a doctorate degree with an emphasis in hospitality marketing and strategic management and is the author of dozens of articles and a textbook on the subjects of marketing and strategic management.In his new position, Crawford-Welch will guide DRI team members worldwide toward the vision of becoming a unified and customer-centric hospitality brand. "Simon is the perfect candidate to lead our company," says Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and CEO of Diamond Resorts International®. "His experience, integrity, professionalism and honesty are invaluable to building Diamond Resorts International® as the global leader in the vacation ownership industry."

The American Resort Development Associations (ARDA)-where he served on the Board of Directors and the Association's Executive Committee-has recognized Crawford-Welch for his achievements in the industry. "Simon has a rich history in leadership roles at ARDA, and he has played a valuable role in timeshare becoming a viable and valuable consumer product," says Howard C. Nusbaum, ARDA's president and CEO. "His experience, expertise, and commitment to the ethical sales and marketing of timeshare make him an outstanding addition to the team at Diamond Resorts International®."

Crawford-Welch's vision for the company is equally ambitious. "I'm excited to join such an innovative organization," he says. "We're in the process of revolutionizing the company, building an organization based on transparency, responsibility, accountability and our customers' needs. By effectively delivering on our brand promise of simplicity, choice and comfort to our more than 360,000 members, Diamond Resorts International® will become the envy of our industry."

Diamond Resorts International®, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is one of the largest vacation ownership companies in the world with nearly 100 branded and affiliated resorts throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Offering simplicity, choice and comfort to its more than 360,000 owners through the branded-service of more than 5,000 team members worldwide, Diamond Resorts International® is dedicated to providing its guests with effortless and relaxing vacation experiences. For more information, please visit www.DiamondResorts.com

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I have had a lot of members asking me why the name change to "Diamond Resorts International European Collection Ltd" as it is a bit of a mouthful compared to "Club Sunterra Ltd"! I must admit I was confused too so you aren't alone!

I emailed Stephen Cloobeck and got a reply followed by a phone call explaining the rational and as it has all become clear to me now so I thought I would share the information with you.It seems that in the Sunterra days the legal name of the portfolio of European resorts and the members club were the same "Club Sunterra". This is no longer going to be the case, in future the name of the company world wide is and will continue to be Diamond Resorts International, the Club Sunterra that was the members club is in future just going to be known as "The Club" and it will be one club for the whole world with points being interchangeable both here and in the US, Hawaii etc, there won't be a difference between us and the US members as there is at the moment, all members worldwide will have the same access to availability as every other member!

Because we have previously been LSI, GVC, Sunterra back to GVC and then Sunterra again, and because we have grown by the acquisition of Global Vacation Club and Thurnham Vacation Club the company has become extremely unwieldy and operated in a completely different way to the way the US club worked. What Stephen is doing is removing all the unnecessary baggage and streamlining things so that the whole of Diamond Resorts International will be one company with one points club.

The change from "Club Sunterra" to "Diamond resorts international European Collection Ltd" is just the legal "Trust" name of the company that holds all the European resorts, there is also the US Collection, the Californian Collection and the Hawaiian collection. None of these will be used for commercial purposes they are just the legal "Trust" names of the various regional portfolios of resorts.

We will continue to pay our management fees based on the European resorts and the US members will pay the fees for their resorts but there will be no difference between when it comes to what we can book. This is coming soon but not here yet, an awful lot of work is going on in the background including a global website for all members of "The Club" with global availability!

I hope this has helped remove some of the confusion, it is obviously different to the past but it sounds like it is going to be a lot better in the near future!